To celebrate our new fridge which is replacing the little bar fridge we have been using for the past two years (i kid you not) we had four of our foodiest friends come over. I had been looking into slow cooked lamb roast recipes so we settled on a Greek theme of sorts with 4 small courses with different themes.
We started with a Tzatziki (1) and Chicken Liver Pâté (2) with some crusty white bread. I had recently seen chicken livers for $4 per kg which I had realised if I could match commercial pâté in taste would be significantly cheaper. I was blown away by the taste, it was spot on and some of the guests even commented that it was better than the store bought stuff. The Tzatziki was also excellent, I put 1 less garlic clove in than the recipe ask for and it was a good thing too as it was quite garlicy enough.
We then had a fish course of lightly battered fresh coral fish fillets with skordalia (3), a Greek garlic sauce (the exact species of fish has slipped my mind). The quality of the fish was outstanding and seemed to confirm the Queen Victoria Markets fishmonger's claim that the fish was fresh. The light batter was accomplished like so:
Mix 100gm of plain flour with luke warm water to get a pouring cream consistency and beat well. Add a pinch a salt and beat some more then allow to stand for 30 mins. After standing beat in an egg yolk then beat the egg white till frothy and then fold into the batter. (4)
You can use this batter with fish, shelled molluscs or vegetables with equal success. The skordalia was probably the hardest part of the meal, it is produced much like a mayonnaise using heaps of olive oil but using fresh white bread and/or almond meal to thicken. As with mayonnaise there is a chance the oil will separate ruining the sauce so I was quite nervous about it and had enough ingredients at hand for a couple of tries. The first try worked like a charm however producing an excellent sauce a bit thicker than mayonnaise that went very well with the lightly battered fish.
The main course was the slow cooked lamb served with olive oil and lemon (5), roast veggies and Greek salad. I was responsible for the lamb, which spent 5 hours in a very low oven. I purchased a baster for the occasion, the lamb being cooked over a pan of water which it was periodically basted from. The lamb turned out quite well, though not what I was aiming for which was lamb you could flake apart with a fork. Instead it was a good moist roast if a touch on the tough side lamb roast so I must continue hunting for a recipe that gives me what I want. The exciting thing was one of the guests who had not eaten lamb in a number of years, due to a cuteness based aversion, enjoyed two servings. The roast veggies and salad were produced by Li and were both excellent complementing the lamb perfectly.
For dessert Li served individual pineapple gratins (6) which were terrifically creamy and sweet and sour. They made for an excellent end to without a doubt the best meal we have served (yet).
(1) Tzatziki from Small Food page 105 (I used one less clove of garlic)
(2) Brandied Chicken Liver Pâté from Margaret Fulton's Encyclopedia of Food and Cookery page 346
(3) Skordalia from European Peasant Cookery page 397 (I made a half recipe and added a couple of tablespoons of almond meal)
(4) Fried Fish from European Peasant Cookery page 60
(5) Slow Cooked Greek Lamb from http://www.cuisine.com.au/recipe/slow-cooked-Greek-lamb (I found the lamb wasn't at the point of flaking off the bone but this could have been the meat or the oven or a combination, I will search for techniques to help this one succeed before I try it again).
(6) Pineapple Gratin from Fast Food page 344
